Jay Harvey Upstage

Taking an esthetic interest in the larger events of one's life probably requires setting off on a journey of disappointment and even danger. The beauty of style can't begin to bridge all barriers. What shaped the author Isaac Babel as a man  -- his sojourn as a supply officer to a Cossack regiment, during  his country's post-revolutoinary struggles with Poland — had to make accommodation with his writerly absorption in French literature, given the purity of craftsmanship he associated with Flaubert and Maupassant. In "Describe the Night," Rajiv Joseph explores less the anomaly of a Jew in company with his harassers as much as how this Russian writer's outsider status leads him to practice getting to know the world beyond his experience and dealing with it accurately. Interpretation always involves lies, he learns from a gruff soldier-tutor named Nikolai. No narrative adheres to the facts, after all, though it is crafted to be taken for fact. "Describe the...

When a lesson from a well-known story is often misapplied, you know you're dealing with a narrative that's deeply embedded in the public mind. It casts a deep shadow, and the original details dim. For instance, it's common in sports to label an organization whose strengths may have been overlooked and whose potential for achievement is hidden until triumph emerges to be labeled a "Cinderella team."  Opressed heroine: Cinderella falls short with her family. Never mind any metaphorical glass slipper turning up in the midst of a metaphorical prince's house-to-house search for the dainty foot it fits. Similarly, the Cinderella thus anointed does not need to have endured abuse from her family. The story doesn't fit most Cinderella teams any more than the magical slipper fits the clumsy feet of the jealous stepsisters or the housemaid's resentful stepmother in the original story. But it has the feel-good essentials that make it perennially appealing. This w...

Rudresh Mahanthappa in his shiny blazer on Election  Day  Between his first visit here and his recorded Hero Trio outing, which was nearly buried by the pandemic, Rudresh Mahanthappa had plenty of repertoire to draw upon when he brought the Hero Trio back to town Tuesday for a vigorous set at the Jazz Kitchen. We heard some new things on this visit, but it was fitting to have him and his men revisit a favorite Charlie Parker original, "Red Cross," to start the set. He unloaded his forceful sound and returned unpredictably to the theme again and again, releasing florid episodes of improvisation in between, along with his bandmates' soloing in the same spirit.  The alto saxophonist of Indian-American heritage, who directs the jazz program at Princeton University as his home base, is known for his breadth of material upon which to put his own stamp. For many years, his assistants in this long-range project have been bassist Francois Moutin and drummer Rudy Royston — both his...

It's not deliberately quirky to focus on the most modest piece in the Yefim Bronfman was last hereabouts with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. program Yefim Bronfman offered Friday night at the Payne & Mencias Palladium, despite its thundering companion on the second half of the pianist's solo recital, Beethoven's "Appassionata" Sonata, op. 57. That's because Robert Schumann's "Arabesque," op. 18, displayed the recitalist's deliberately understated lyrical gift. The profile of melodic inspiration here and throughout the recital was vivid without excessive insistence.  In "Arabesque,"  there was steady attention to gathering forces, sunny though they are in expressing what has been called the Eusebius side of the composer's character. It's as if Bronfman was sensitive to a borderline bipolar personality collecting his thoughts even in miniature and displaying Schumann's artistic integrity at its best. This whole...

 There was no riotous behavior in Friday night's Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra concert, despite a guest conductor's hearty hailing of what seemed to him to be "a party audience," and ending his brief remarks before the concert's second half with the invitation to "throw things or whatever."  Richard Egarr is making his ISO debut. Richard Egarr,  principal guest conductor of the Residentie Orkest in the Hague, Netherlands, is sharing the stage this weekend with another guest artist who presents himself in unusual fashion: pianist-composer Conrad Tao. The Illinois native  invited no rowdiness, but he proved to be a lively attraction to an enthusiastic, rather small audience at the final Classical Series concert of 2026 in Hilbert Circle Theatre. Tao performed with intense focus on the task at hand, whether it was his own composition "The Hand" or the work that inspired it, Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, op. 15. His concert at...

  Serious couple spat: Billy and Sara Extraordinary rapport between a playwright and a theater artistic director accounts for the special stature of a world premiere that opened Thursday night at the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre. Chris Saunders, artistic director of American Lives Theatre , has long admired the work of Lucy Thurber, and that admiration bore fruit in the offer to write a play for ALT centered on Indianapolis, including input into selection of a cast that would shape the creative process.  Saunders of course directed this first-ever production, which was saved as I saw it from looking overpolished and tidy by superb acting in the wild life paths followed by each of the characters.  Thus, a perfectly realized premiere stayed fresh and surprising over its Luke looks on as James calms Candace. 70-minute span. Besides, the playwright's reported delight in getting acquainted with Indianapolis plays an essential role in "The Meridian Cafe," along with the sho...